Getting into reloading

[uhlan1]

Heh, which press?

[Germz]

I was just looking at my bench. The press was the cheap part! :-)

Same. $40 for my LEE single stage off ebay a few months back.

[Mtn folk]

I have the 550, but just looking at all of the other crap I have bought over the years for reloading, casting, and sizing.

Maybe I just need therapy.

[Germz]

I have the 550, but just looking at all of the other crap I have bought over the years for reloading, casting, and sizing.

Maybe I just need therapy.

You do have therapy. Its that lever thing on the 550. pull it a few hundred times and meditate on your day

[XDRoX]

I was just looking at my bench. The press was the cheap part! :-)

My too. I built this bench specifically for reloading.
Before:


After:

[Divernhunter]

On my benches I have 3 single stage presses and 2 Dillon 650s mounted. I have a gun/computer room with 3 safes a 2 racks and a garage that is 1/4th full of reloading and supplies/ammo.

I really save money That is why I reload...........not.

[stilly]

You didn't ask the same questions before you started reloading?

Things have changed since when Divernhunter was a kid and now apparently. I think there was just a miscommunication thing here. Back when he were a kid there was no such thing as machines so the word automation did not exist and thus you COULD not ask it. Also, the 5.56 round had not yet been invented so again, it was something that he never asked because it was not in existence yet. Also, nobody ordered powder back then, people just went to their local corner general store and bought barrels of tnt powder with a cork that would ALWAYS fall out and if you happened to piss of a coyote or rabbit, then they would whip out a zippo or pack of matches and light your trail on fire and then a big *** flame would chase you until you went over a hill out of view and then you would blow up...

I think maybe you have some misconceptions coming here and phrasing these questions like that. If you knew a little more and maybe read a bit more then you would see that the questions, as they are phrased might seem a little bit hmmmmm, OFF. No biggie though, it is always best to come here and ask questions then to NOT ask questions and leave it up to the guys in the stores to sell you EVERYTHING under the sun and you later find that you did not need half of it... BTW, when you get into 9mm, I have a 9mm case trimmer I can sell you...

Really I think most of the things here are just semantics, you will understand once you learn a bit more.

Stilly. I can't wait til the next ie reloading class to meet your nutty ***

Just make sure to wash the smell of MAC off of yas. Cause when I get home and get near my pcs they go ape**** crazy and piss silicon and SCSI cables all over the floor after sniffing a MAC on my clothes...

[Germz]

Just make sure to wash the smell of MAC off of yas. Cause when I get home and get near my pcs they go ape**** crazy and piss silicon and SCSI cables all over the floor after sniffing a MAC on my clothes...

off topic but stilly I think its time for an upgrade if your computers still have scuzzy cables.

[El Toro]

I was just looking at my bench. The press was the cheap part! :-)

and everything above and below the bench!!

As other have stated, reloading can save you money but isn't really about saving a dime once you get addicted. you could go ultra cheap, buy used and minimalist and then pickup brass, buy half full bottles of powder on the cheap and wait for bullet and primer sales. Id be wiling to bet you could produce 1000 .223 for less than .10 after you've amortized the equipment.

I bought an old RCBS 4x4 press and everything I needed to load before the panic for $180. If I had stopped right then and just bought components, every round would have added .18 for the first 1000 rounds. Still, I would have congratulated myself on .28 a round.... had I stopped there, but I didn't as you can see below.

[Beelzy]

5.56 ammo: to reload with components at current reasonable market price .35 cents per round.
To buy commercial ammo at current reasonable ". ". .50 cents per round.

[T-800]

Things have changed since when you Divernhunter was a kid and now apparently. I think there was just a miscommunication thing here. Back when he were a kid there was no such thing as machines so the word automation did not exist and thus you COULD not ask it. Also, the 5.56 round had not yet been invented so again, it was something that he never asked because it was not in existence yet. Also, nobody ordered powder back then, people just went to their local corner general store and bought barrels of tnt powder with a cork that would ALWAYS fall out and if you happened to piss of a coyote or rabbit, then they would whip out a zippo or pack of matches and light your trail on fire and then a big *** flame would chase you until you went over a hill out of view and then you would blow up...

I think maybe you have some misconceptions coming here and phrasing these questions like that. If you knew a little more and maybe read a bit more then you would see that the questions, as they are phrased might seem a little bit hmmmmm, OFF. No biggie though, it is always best to come here and ask questions then to NOT ask questions and leave it up to the guys in the stores to sell you EVERYTHING under the sun and you later find that you did not need half of it... BTW, when you get into 9mm, I have a 9mm case trimmer I can sell you...

Really I think most of the things here are just semantics, you will understand once you learn a bit more.






Just make sure to wash the smell of MAC off of yas. Cause when I get home and get near my pcs they go ape**** crazy and piss silicon and SCSI cables all over the floor after sniffing a MAC on my clothes...

Lol is that right Diver? Yea its easy to take things wrong on the net, me posting I want the most automated system with no prior experience may sound to some like I dont have the dedication needed, just like Divernhunters reply to my post might sound to some like a know-it-all with too much time on his hands.
Listening to the wiser people on here, I think reloading is for me as I have the goal of alot of ammo, my 1:7 rifle likes the expensive stuff and I'm not sure prices will ever fall. What would people suggest getting for $1000 or less?

[XDRoX]

What would people suggest getting for $1000 or less?

For $1000 I'd buy either a Dillon 550 or 650 and an RCBS single stage to go along with it.

If you want to load 400 rounds an hour the 550 will work fine. If you want to load 600 an hour and want to use a case feeder then the 650 is what you want.

[warthog1984]

Listening to the wiser people on here, I think reloading is for me as I have the goal of alot of ammo, my 1:7 rifle likes the expensive stuff and I'm not sure prices will ever fall. What would people suggest getting for $1000 or less?

Reloading on under $1000:

1) Attend a reloading class/workshop. ~$50 to make sure you don't hurt yourself with your first handload.
2) A Press kit. Start with an affordable single-stage or turret press (Lee is fine). Learn. Make mistakes batching 1 round at a time.
3) Upgrade to a better/faster press (progressive or turret) once your learning curve has flattened out.

[uhlan1]

Hornady LNL or Dillon 550B or 650. All are terrific.

[stilly]

If you are really new to reloading and have not been doing it or seen or know anyone that can help you set things up and kind of guide you, then you should start with a CHEAP Lee CLassic Turret for about a hundred bucks or so, then go through the steps, learn the ins and outs, the dos and don'ts and THEN get yourself a more expensive progressive press. If you start with a progressive press FIRST, you are setting yourself up for a FAIL. You may very well succeed, but the odds are stacked against you in making a few big mistakes.